The present invention relates to liquid feeding/training containers, such as toddler sipping cups and baby feeding bottles.
The present invention also relates to liquid drinking and/or feeding/training containers, that are both dripless in use, and are readily adapted for easy sipping by a toddler, or sucking by babies, or others.
The present invention also relates to dripless feeding/training containers, that allow for ready sipping access to the liquid contained within, by means of a dripless, liquid outlet control valve means.
The present invention further relates to dripless liquid feeding/training containers, wherein the liquid that is removed from the liquid housing, by either sipping or sucking, through a liquid outlet control valve means, is readily replaced by air automatically introduced into the container through an air inlet control valve means, thereby equalizing the interior/exterior pressures.
The history of baby and toddler liquid feeding systems, has remained essentially unimproved over a long period of time. The major improvement in baby bottles and toddler cups, formerly manufactured of glass, or other breakable materials, is the replacement of the breakable liquid housing, relatively recently, by plastic, or other non-breakable materials.
In the prior art baby bottle systems, the liquid storage "bottle", or liquid housing, is usually sealed with a flexible latex or silicone rubber nipple. The nipple is usually removably-attached to the bottle by means of a threaded collar, which is designed to squeeze the nipple flange against the rim of the bottle. As the baby sucks on the nipple, the liquid in the bottle is removed by the baby's sucking. As the milk, or other liquid, is removed from the bottle, air will enter the bottle through the nipple, thereby resulting in an equalization of the pressure both inside and outside of the bottle, to that of normal atmospheric pressure.
One of the major problems inherent with the prior art liquid feeding system, is that the baby also ingests a very large amount of air during the difficult process of sucking the milk out of the bottle against the increasing pressures being developed in the bottle. This then results in a "bloating" of the baby's stomach, with the likelihood of concomitant vomiting of the mixture of ingested milk and large amounts of air. A partial "solution" to the ingestion of air during sucking, was arrived at by the use of bottles incorporating disposable, collapsible, polyethylene, or the like, baby bottle liners. However, this has proved to be an expensive alternative, having, as well, its own major problems. Aside from its greater costs, when a bottle utilizing a liner is held upside down, it drips or leaks profusely--the amount being essentially proportional to the size of the nipple liquid outlet. This major drawback, has led to the need for another, more suitable solution, to the vexing air-liquid ingestion problem. Another major problem inherent with the use of the conventional prior art baby bottles, capped by the conventional latex nipple, has been the often uncontrolled spilling or dripping, of large quantities of milk during its use.
As the baby grows into a toddler, the need for a dripless liquid feeding/training sipping cup becomes quite obvious. The previously designed prior art toddler sipping cups, have been usually constructed of a non-breakable plastic, or the like, material, incorporating a tightly-fitting, removable cup sealing lid. The cup's sealing lid, may be either of the `snap-on/off` or `screw-on/off`/ version. Generally, the prior art's cup sealing lid, incorporates a `nipple`- or `spout-like` liquid outlet protuberance, allowing a child to suck or sip out the liquid contents of the cup.
Further, the cup's lid is usually vented, by means of air holes, in order to provide an adequate sucking or sipping liquid flow. The child then places the `nipple` or `spout` in his/her mouth, and then tilts the cup, and sucks or sips, in order to provide the desired liquid flow. However, this prior art design generally also has resulted in the dripping or `leaking` of large volumes of liquid, when the liquid outlet is not located in the child's mouth. This major problem of prior art liquid feeding/training cups, or other containers, has led to the demand for a `simple` solution, which has now been provided by the present invention.